Struggle to reach isolated villages as storm toll soars

Date: December 6 2012

Jason Gutierrez

MANILA: The death toll from a powerful typhoon that ravaged the southern Philippines rose to more than 230 with dozens still missing, as rescuers battled to reach areas cut off in flash floods and mudslides.

Typhoon Bopha churned across the island of Mindanao, toppling trees and blowing away homes on Tuesday before weakening as it headed towards the South China Sea.

It was expected to dump more rain as it passed over the western island of Palawan, with the potential to wreak further destruction, officials said.

At least 143 people were killed and 156 injured after a mudslide in the mining province of Compostela Valley on Tuesday morning, army Lieutenant-Colonel Lyndon Paniza said.

This brought the death count in the Davao region to 224, with 304 injured and 79 missing, Colonel Paniza said. Eleven were reported killed elsewhere on Mindanao, while there were two dead in the Visayas, according to the state disaster agency.

''We want to know if there is something we could have done'' to prevent casualties, the President, Benigno Aquino, said in a speech before mayors and governors in Manila on Wednesday. The Interior Minister, Mar Roxas, was in Mindanao surveying the damage, he said.

Among the fatalities was a soldier who was part of a troop deployment sent to the mountainous town of New Bataan in anticipation of the storm. ''It is quite sad and tragic. They were actually there to be ready to help our countrymen,'' Mr Roxas said after visiting the storm-hit south.

The narrow mountain pass leading to New Bataan was littered with fallen trees and boulders, virtually cutting it off from traffic, Major-General Ariel Bernardo, commander of the 10th Infantry Division that covers Mindanao said.

Parts of Mindanao were without power and communications, with food and clean water in limited supply. ''Three of our coastal municipalities remain isolated,'' said Corazon Malanyaon, governor of Davao Oriental province on the island's eastern coast where the storm made landfall.

She said rescuers were slowly trying to reach the stricken areas, using everything from heavy equipment to their bare hands and chainsaws to clear the roads. ''It's like we're running an obstacle course,'' she said on local radio.